If you ever wanted to sharpen your culinary skills, there may be no better time than now. Not only is preparing a home-cooked meal a happy distraction from a certain world crisis, it’s also nourishing for your body, mind and soul. Lucky for you, one of the world’s best chefs is now serving up free cooking classes directly to your smartphone.
Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana fame has just launched a new Instagram series called “Kitchen Quarantine,” where he will guide you step-by-step through basic recipes. In the first few delectable episodes, Bottura showed viewers how to make a Thai curry, a warm bollito salad, tortellini and an “everything Mac and Cheese” dinner. Indeed, it’s the carbo-loaded hug we all need right now.
And if there’s one person that’s built for this, it’s Bottura. Even as his home country struggles amid the spread of Covid-19, the effusive Italian chef radiates positivity and promises to motivate even the most uninspired home cooks.
Plus, he’s done it before. In 2019, the Bottura ran a series of online cooking classes through Masterclass. “I’ll teach you how to develop your own palate and bring to life your creativity and emotions through your dishes,” Bottura said at the time.
In addition to the cooking class itself, Bottura also does an Instagram Q&A after the show to answer any queries cookers have about the recipe, method or ingredients.
“Kitchen Quarantine” is being broadcast live on Bottura’s Instagram page every day at 3 pm ET. The classes are all in English and don’t cost a cent (for comparison, Bottura’s Masterclass sessions cost $90 each). And if you’re unable to tune into the live Instagram show, recordings of the episodes are popping up on YouTube so you can bookmark them for later.
Now, stop heating up instant ramen and get yourself to the kitchen for a quarantine cook up.
